Matching the right wine with the right candidates
Presidential pairings.
Fancy footwork on wheels, onstage this weekend
Derby Darlins launch bout season; Moving Current kicks it up a notch.
Taco “Bus” open in Downtown Tampa
Earlier this week, a grand opening event unveiled Taco Bus’s newest location in downtown Tampa. Ironically, this location isn’t a bus at all. Instead, it's an actual storefront with a bus replica attached. The replica sports the Taco Bus logo, of course, but is also eye-catching and charming to passersbys. Not only that, but this…
Mitch Perry Report 1.27.12
Going into the final weekend before the Florida GOP presidential debate, it looks like it did about 10 days ago – that Mitt Romney is going to take it. That doesn't mean there hasn't been a lot of ups and downs over the past week, but the two-toned combo of devastating attacks from the Republican…
Tally Republicans now shy about talking about controversial elections bill
Just before U.S. Senator Dick Durbin was scheduled to host a hearing in Tampa on Florida's controversial elections law, Tallahassee Republicans who were instrumental in getting the legislation passed last year are now acting coy about discussing the bill. The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the bill's two sponsors — Miami Senator Miguel de la…
Gingrich takes a pounding in Jacksonville
Mitt Romney got the best of Newt Gingrich in last night's CNN debate from Jacksonville, and the question remaining for the next four days of the presidential campaign in Florida is: Can Newt recover by Tuesday? Thursday began horribly for Gingrich, and never got better. Plastered on the front screen of the Drudge Report were…
Facebook: The not-so-silent relationship killer
Where do we draw the line between letting someone into our world, and letting them into that part of ourselves on the world wide web? Couples are increasingly citing social networking sites as major factors in their divorces and breakups. She intercepted emails he was exchanging with his yoga instructor, or he became impossibly jealous…
Visions Contest
Let us be a part of your “visions”
Gone viral: Tampa Bay Lightning mascot ThunderBug performer fired, fans petition
Shit went down last week (Jan. 17) at the Tampa Bay Times Forum when the Tampa Bay Lightning’s mascot, ThunderBug, sprayed Silly String on a Boston Bruins fan. Video of the incident was uploaded onto YouTube and the story spread nationally. It wasn’t revealed until Jan. 24 that the performer was terminated. [Read more &…
Kathy Castor says Tampa needs to become the ‘Gateway to Cuba’
The WTC's Steve Michelini hands out an award to Kathy Castor In some of her most extensive public comments about Cuba, Tampa area Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor says it's an "exciting time" on the Communist island in regards to some of the modest free-market reforms recently enacted under President Raoul Castro, and she says Tampa…
Green Community Calendar weekend events
Learn about livestock, hibiscus hybridizing or check out a farmers market!
Mitch Perry Report 1.26.12
Tonight's CNN televised debate (at 8 p.m.) may be now or never for Newt Gingrich in his quest to win Florida and ultimately the GOP nomination for President. Yes, both a TIME/CNN and a Quinnipiac survey released yesterday shows the race to be close to dead even (Mitt Romney leads Gingrich 36 to 34 percent),…
At Tiger Bay, Bill Foster talks stadiums to water fluoridation
St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster got candid about his trials and tribulations over the last year at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club Wednesday afternoon at the St. Pete Yacht Club. Foster started his talk with the worst chapter of 2011, the deaths of three city police officers in a span of four weeks. A year…
Democrats bringing maximum attention to election law hearing in Tampa
Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin Early voting is underway in Florida in the state's first election since the controversial elections law was passed by the GOP-led Legislature and signed by Governor Rick Scott last year. On Friday, Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, the chair of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on The Constitution, Civil Rights and…
Will the Tea Party help Gingrich in Florida?
After Mitt Romney easily won New Hampshire two weeks ago, following his win (we thought) in Iowa, CL and others noted that the three-year history of Tea Party influence in the national Republican Party was at stake in the critical primary in South Carolina, where a Romney victory might have sealed his nomination. That didn't…
Lana Del Rey: Chicken McNugget or McRib?
Autopsy IV likens the label-created artist to McDonalds’ lab-created food.
C-SPAN Campaign 2012 Bus to come to University of Tampa campus
Attention public policy nerds, your ship has come in. The C-SPAN Campaign 2012 Bus is coming to the University of Tampa next week, and you've got a chance to get on it – for a couple of hours next week, anyway. Yes, as the eyes of the American political world obsessed with the Florida primary…
The Raw Story: Johnny Ace Takes a Nap
Before I get carried away in all this wrestling business, here is more stuff for you to read: • Because this is still a very new concept, I will one last time direct you to my first column to explain why the Daily Loaf has been taken over by wrestling. Don’t worry, you’re still safe.•…
State of the Union: The president makes his case
With the GOP race for president riveting the Washington press corps (as well as those of us in Florida this week), President Obama hasn't been in the news much lately. So his State of the Union address last night provided him a little equal time, sandwiched between Republican debates (the next one is tomorrow night…
Mitch Perry Report 1.25.12
Good morning everyone. A fresh new poll released by Quinnipiac University this morning shows that the Romney-Gingrich battle is essential a dead heat. Officially Mitt leads Newt 36-34 percent, a huge turnaround for teh former House Speaker from just three weeks ago. We caught Gingrich in St. Pete yesterday morning, where he was in vintage…
Dead heat: Romney & Gingrich in statistical tie
It's not an illusion: Newt Gingrich has had some serious mojo coming out of his upset victory in South Carolina, as a new Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday morning shows the former House Speaker just two percentage points behind Mitt Romney, 36-34 percent, a statistical tie with six days to go before the January 31 primary.…
Unlike other Democratic mayors, Buckhorn won’t sign same-sex marriage pledge
Last week, Chicago's Rahm Emanuel became the latest mayor to join his colleagues from across the U.S. in supporting the rights of same-sex couples to marry. According to the Freedom to Marry website, more than 80 mayors of major U.S. cities have now pledged to support same-sex marriage. According to the website, the mayors hope…
This week in food and drink
Gasparilla brunch, cooking with beer, anniversary party and more!
Creative Loafing Gasparilla Party Contest!
Chip Weiner It's party time. Ahoy, mateys! Creative Loafing wants to party with you on Gasparilla. Do you have a crazy way of celebrating Tampa's annual tradition? We are having a contest to identify the most unique and peculiar Gasparilla celebrations in town. We want to see the pirate booty, the greatest grog, the nutttiest…
CL at Sundance: Detropia, Robot & Frank, Wrong and Excision
Our day begins with a visit to Temple, our least favorite venue. It is closer to Kimball Junction than Main Street and there is only one bus that goes there. We are excited to see our only documentary of this fest, Detropia, a film about the decline of Detroit. It falls somewhat short of our…
Les Miz revival conjures thespian flashbacks
… but in a good way. Run begins Jan. 31 at Straz.
Newt measuring the White House drapes? Gingrich talks about what he’ll do in White House in St. Pete
Robert and Libby Knupp awaiting Newt's arrival Fresh off his mediocre debate performance at USF, Newt Gingrich Tuesday morning addressed a packed assemblage of his supporters at the Tick-Tock restaurant on 4th Street North, where he fancifully began laying out the agenda for his first day in office if elected president in November. The former…
New Music Tuesday! (1/24/12)
Amnesty International’s star-studded four-disc tribute to Bob Dylan + lots more (with audio & video).
Refusing to admit guilt, Bean and Lee opt for ethics trial in Tampa
George Niemann is a Daily Loaf contributor and a UCAN, RLAND, FSP activist. The views expressed are his own and not necessarily the same as the organizations to which he belongs. Former Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean and former County Attorney Renee Lee have refused to agree to the findings of probable cause by the…
GOP Debate Night at USF: Photos from the fringe
The USF theater building where the debate was held was surrounded by emergency service personnel and media vehicles. I couldn't get into the debate in the theater building. I couldn't even get into the watch party in the tent. But as a photojournalist, I found the activity outside last night’s debate at the University of…
Yogurtland opens in St. Petersburg
Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably have noticed that frozen yogurt shops are popping up all over Tampa Bay. The newest shop to pop up in St. Petersburg is Yogurtland, and is northeast St. Petersburg’s first. It is a self-serve yogurt shop, which is all the rage right now. Yogurtland’s grand…
Photo Review: 20 Penny Circus worth every cent
The duo performs at the Pittsburgh Mix Sports Bar.
The not so great debate: The GOP candidates engage in a sleepy affair in Tampa
It was an overflow crowd watching the debate in a tent on the USF campus There were lots of exciting developments in the race to win Florida's GOP presidential primary Monday in Tampa Bay. Too bad there weren't very many in last night's debate at USF. Unlike the last two debates in South Carolina that…
Mitch Perry Report 1.24.12
If last Thursday was the best day yet of the 2011-2012 GOP race for the presidency, Monday was by far the best day to cover the race in Tampa and Florida. With all of the candidates in town for last night's debate on the USF campus, the day began early at 8:00 a.m. as Mitt…
Kiefer’s Confessions
Sutherland stars in a Web series that worked better online.
This is what democracy looks like
Protesters of all stripes demonstrated outside the GOP debate at USF.
Films Seen and Main Street: Day 1 at Sundance
We begin our first day at Sundance with a visit to Squatters, Chris’s favorite Utah brew pub. Then it’s time for our first SFF12 screening, Beasts of the Southern Wild at Eccles. A Sundance Institute project, this film had significant assistance to get it into the festival. There is a large group of filmmakers sitting…
Gingrich kicks off his Florida campaign in Tampa
Newt takes a photo with a fan in Tampa To the strains of "How Do You Like Me Now?," Newt Gingrich began his intense battle to take Florida Monday afternoon in Tampa by quickly bashing chief rival Mitt Romney, mocking him for working with former campaign aides to Charlie Crist, whose name remains anathema to…
Eddie Vedder solo tour to hit Clearwater this May
Danny Clinch This just in from the folks at Ruth Eckerd Hall: Eddie Vedder, the force-of-nature singer-songwriter who so dynamically fronts mega alt rock group Pearl Jam, is bringing his solo tour to Clearwater in support of his Grammy-nominated outing, Ukulele Songs, and live concert DVD, Water on the Road, both released last year. The…
Concert review: Givers at The Social, Orlando
A wrap-up of last week’s show featuring the indie Afrobeat pop-rock group from Louisiana.
#MusicMonday, Vol. 55
What the CL Music Team is jamming this Monday, from Mason Jennings to X-Ray Spex and more (w/video).
Beads, not handcuffs: Tampa Police announce new Gasparilla rules
Up until a few years ago, excessive levels of drunken partygoers, backyard urination, and property destruction in Hyde Park were de rigueur at Tampa's Gasparilla Festival in late January. But two and a half years ago, local residents along the parade route said they'd finally had enough, and came together with local business owners, city…
X-Rated: Shaun White & Torin Yater-Wallace
Two to watch at the upcoming 2012 Winter X Games.
Sparkling ICE cocktails are nice
ICE, ice, baby! It’s time to mix up a fruity, low-calorie cocktail starring sparkling flavored water. The popularity of sparkling flavored water dates back to the early 1990s, when the “it” brand was Clearly Canadian, derived from springs in British Columbia. In recent years, the non-carbonated variety has taken more of the spotlight. But the…
Romney calls Gingrich “highly erratic” in Tampa
Mitt Romney meets with local residents in Tampa It is on. Rocked on his heels by his decisive loss to Newt Gingrich on Monday night, Mitt Romney came out firing against his chief rival for the GOP nomination for president this morning in Tampa, calling him "highly erratic" and demanding that Gingrich show his "work…
Mixing business with pleasure: an interview with the author of ‘Kiss Your Customer’
In Kiss Your Customer: 77 Reasons Why Sales & Service Are Just Like Dating & Relationships, Andy Masters explores how strategies for romancing a love interest can also be used to charm a client. Shawn Alff: How important is actual seduction and appealing to a potential client’s carnal side when trying to close a deal?…
Mitch Perry Report 1.23.12
Welcome to what should be the most exciting week yet of the Republican nomination for president, as the campaign moves to Florida and to Tampa today. Mitt Romney is in the Cigar City early this morning. The candidate out of central casting is now in a serious fight for the nomination, after his shellacking at…
Can Gingrich keep the momentum up in Florida?
After Newt Gingrich's thrashing of Mitt Romney in South Carolina on Saturday night, the former House Speaker was the featured guest on three Sunday morning public affairs programs, where he began targeting the Florida Republican electorate immediately. On Meet The Press, Gingrich said that his victory shows he's tapping into the anger felt toward the…
Romney tries to pick up the pieces in the Sunshine State
For the first time since this Republican race for the presidency began in earnest last year, the "inevitability" sheen that has been superimposed on Mitt Romney has lost a bit of luster in in the wake of his shellacking by Newt Gingrich Saturday night in South Carolina. The Palmetto State was supposed to be the…
Ron Paul supporters out in full force at Tea Party rally in St. Pete
For nearly three years now the Tea Party in Florida has brought new energy into the Republican Party of Florida, so it makes sense as the GOP enjoys its biggest week in years that local Tea Party affiliates would begin making themselves even more visible. Such was the case Saturday afternoon in St. Petersburg's Straub…
Blu-Ray Review: Feel the sting of Scorpion King 3
A call to poison control may be necessary after checking out this straight-to-DVD abomination.
Two directions: C. Emerson and Mindy Solomon
St. Pete’s top private galleries travel different, but equally significant, paths.
St. Pete locals ignite the screen at Baywalk Saturday night
From gallery owner to renegade auteur, Johnny Vitale has directed a feature short called Ignition and it will be showing tomorrow with celebratory receptions at Muvico Baywalk in downtown St. Pete tomorrow night. The film stars Frank Strunk III (who designed the costumes), Heinz Hinrichs, Chris Geyer, The Burghound Car Club and a slew of…
Welcome back, Carlos… kinda
Carlos Pena returns to the Rays lineup, for better or worse.
Reel Projections: New movies for the new year
2011 saw many ups and downs at the movies. Mostly downs. Thank God 2012 is finally here with the promise of some real cinematic masterpieces — or at least a few kick ass super hero movies. With so much to look forward, how can your average movie goer (i.e., you) sift through all the junk…
Thinkin’ ’bout the blues and stuff
These are tough days for philosophers. When any hodad with a wireless connection can present himself / herself to the world as a pundit, who has times for well-educated deep thinkers who routinely spelunk to the depths of metaphysics? BLIND WILLIE McTELL So it’s nice to encounter a series of books in a series called…
Dreaming of Rio
Cachaça is Brazil’s answer to rum.
Television review: Archer Season 3 Premiere — “The Man From Jupiter”
There's a certain freedom that comes with creating an animated comedy for adults. Characters and stories rooted in reality can suddenly veer off into the absurd or impossible without completely derailing the plot, because the viewer has grown up expecting cartoons to be zany. We expect and accept the unreal in animated television — on…
How to Sundance
A guide to the Sundance Film Festival
Lens takes first place recommendation in Pier design competition
St. Petersburg's new landmark could be the Lens, pending St. Pete City Council approval. Michael Maltzan's Lens design got voted number one by the Pier design jury during its final meeting Friday morning. The Wave, by BIG, placed second and West 8 Urban Designs placed last. The jury received over 5,000 comments from the website…
Best. Day. Ever. GOP race builds up to South Carolina primary
Do you recall the song "Big Balls" from the ’80s Australian hard-rock band AC/DC? I thought of that tune last night while watching the opening minutes of CNN's GOP debate from Charleston, South Carolina. You knew Newt Gingrich was going to get hit with questions about his former wife Marianne, who had promised for over…
NY-SF battle for NFC championship could be another classic
The road to Super Bowl XLVI will end this Sunday night at approximately 10 p.m., when two teams will be left standing to play in Indianapolis on February 5. The favorites (according to the oddsmakers) are the New England Patriots and San Francisco Forty Niners. However, many "smart" football people (many coincidentally based in the…
Mitch Perry Report 1.20.12
The burning question as to whether Florida's January 31 presidential primary matters comes down to what happens tomorrow night in South Carolina. No question though, that yesterday was the biggest day of pure news to come out of the months-long campaign to date. The issue of water in Tampa is always a story. Reclaimed water…
Neighborhood Dining Guide: Low cal choices
A sampling of health-conscious restaurants from around the Bay area.
A one-night stand is not a sexual buffet
It happens to most of us a few times in our lives—or in some cases a few dozen times. We’re in the throes of a painful break-up, we’re drunk and mistakenly think the guy who made us smile is attractive, or we’re simply in the mood to sleep with a "random" with no obligation to…
Mind games and interactive play at Friday night art shows
Centre Gallery, a warehouse space in Brandon and TMA’s Art After Dark — and more.
The 39 Steps: Driven to excess
A stage version of a Hitchcock thriller is over the top and finally way too much.
Aloha, Kona
The joyful Hawaiian spirit infuses the beers of Kona Brewing Co.
Harry Cohen says the feds should speed up their decision-making re RNC security measures
Where's the security perimeter going to be? And when the heck will that information be announced? Those are the big questions still facing citizens who live and work near the site of this year's Republican National Convention, the Tampa Bay Times Forum. An official involved with security told CL last month that the U.S. Secret…
Lost and found in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
A boy searches for closure in the aftermath of 9/11.
Hug it out in St. Pete this Saturday
Celebrate National Hugging Day and show some local love.
Swordplay and swoons — backstage at Gaspar Ballet
A behind-the-scenes look at the stage combat and choreography the “Pirate Fantasy.”
Green Community Calendar weekend events
Sea monsters exhibit, ribbon cutting ceremony, seminar, farmers markets and more!
Florida Primary field dwindles: Rick Perry drops out
Multiple news agencies are reporting that Rick Perry is dropping out of the GOP race for president, and will make it official at 11 a.m. eastern time. He is expected to endorse Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina Primary, which takes place on Saturday. Perry is the second Republican candidate for president to drop out…
Mitch Perry Report 1.19.12
Good morning everyone. Let's take a break from South Carolina to focus on Tallahassee. Yesterday Republicans revived the contentious issue of privatizing state prisons and correctional facilities – a measure that was thwarted by the courts in 2011. It's not easy being a member of the minority in Tallahassee -ask any Democrat. Yesterday Senate Minority…
Tampa Bay Times employee pay cut continues
Last fall, Tampa Bay Times employees were informed that they would need to take a 5 percent pay cut until (at least) this January. On Tuesday, those same employees learned that the salary reduction will continue at least into May. But unlike last September, the reaction among staff members has not been as visceral, according…
Del Rio’s is classic, on the cheap
Del Rio’s resurrects both old Tampa cooking and approachable dining.
The gospel according to Matthews
The MSNBC pundit heads to Tampa to discuss his latest book.
Concert Etiquette 101
Get the most out of your concert experience without ruining someone else’s.
Jealousy, Coppola and a sad clown: Cavalleria rusticana and I Pagliacci
Pietro Mascagni’s and Ruggiero Leoncavallo’s jealous Italians belt out at the Straz this weekend.
Advice on the way out
How do we best prepare our gay son for the bigotry that awaits him?
Throwdown at Crowbar with the Mountain Goats, a grand entrance at State Theatre by Old 97’s + more concerts this week
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19Sasha w/Three Big time Welsh DJ and producer Sasha makes a pit stop in Tampa, bringing his progressive electro grooves to The Kennedy dancefloors. (The Kennedy, Tampa) Anberlin w/Foxy Shazam/States Winter Haven’s heavy, angular, Christian-but-not-brash-about-it alt rock band has put out five full-length albums, the most recent 2010’s Dark Is the Way, Light…
Editor’s Note: How Our Family Doctors wound up on CL’s cover
They won the auction! Plus: Feedback, Field Day and more …
A dangerous profession
When writing poetry, it helps to have an enemy.
Planting the seeds
Will Florida ever permit the use of medical marijuana?
A better mousetrap
Could I avoid the inevitable application of brute force?
Look Again – Sundance Film Festival 2012
Sundance Eve… bags packed… films selected… flight to the blizzard awaiting Park City a mere 5 hours away. It's hard to imagine this frantic flurry of last minute running around as the calm before the storm, but it is. We are Chris & Jenn, a couple of film geeks who like to sundance whenever we…
Florida Democrats introduce the “Fair Economy Act”
Senator Nan Rich introduces the Fair Economy Act Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich and other Democrats in the House and Senate spoke in Tallahassee on Wednesday in support of the Fair Economy Act, legislation that supporters say will save hundreds of millions of dollars and end a tax structure that protects special interests and rewards…
Bill’s Sports Binge: Rays meatless meeting, Bolts bounce back and post-season possibilities
Suffice it to say, I've had quite a few "careers" between beers in my 43 years on earth. From my first job delivering pizzas, to ditch-digging, video rental retail, car sales, paper sales, selling security systems door-to-door (ironically having an elderly neighbor call the cops to report a suspicious character in khakis roaming the neighborhood),…
Tampa state Representative Dana Young defends her reclaimed water bill
Tampa Republican Representative Dana Young says she's never received the kind of media attention she's experienced since introducing HB 639, a bill that would transfer control of reclaimed water to the utilities that produce it — a measure that Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn strongly supports. Young tells CL that the bill is important for Tampa…
Legislature renews push to privatize Florida’s prisons
Proposed legislation in the Florida state Senate that would privatize 29 prisons and correctional facilities in 18 Florida counties won approval in the Senate Rules Committee Wednesday afternoon in Tallahassee, and now will be taken up by other committees in the Legislature. Only Democrats Chris Smith and Gwen Margolis objected to the measure moving on.…
Even Newt admits if Romney wins SC, Florida is irrelevant
We chastised local print reporters in Tampa the other day for making the Florida presidential primary on Jan. 31 seem a bigger deal than it possibly will be, but that's understandable. It's not just Sunshine State political journalists who want the GOP presidential campaign to continue into late January, but national reporters (and former governors…
The Gaily News: Tampa among most tolerant cities in America
Tampa eked out a spot on The Daily Beast's list of the most tolerant cities in the United States, rounding it out at number 20. The news site considered a variety of factors when compiling the list — number of reported hate crimes, the percentage of residents who support same-sex marriages, as well as state-wide…
I want my LGBTV: 30 Rock mirrors Tracy Morgan’s real-life scandal (video)
You know what they say: Art imitates life. This is especially true of last week's episode of 30 Rock. The comedy took on star Tracy Morgan's controversy from last summer, when he received a tremendous amount of backlash for an anti-gay standup routine in Tennessee. In the episode, his alter ego Tracy Jordan made the…
Queened Out: Are all drag queens really the same?
There are billions upon billions of people in the world, and we meet so many throughout our lifetimes that the odds of getting along with everyone is nearly impossible. We all have different views and stances on every aspect of life. Our lives truly are a melting pot of not only cultures, but also of…
